Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: interesting article about Greek community housing design

[Ann Zabaldo (zabaldo]

Hello all — I’m not sure what Sharon was referring to when she wrote:

> If by resilient performance you mean the mixing of residential and commercial 
> uses in one building, it is banned in cities here. Buildings are either 
> residential or commercial. There are some areas where people operate 
> businesses in their homes but inspection codes, etc., still enforce 
> distinctions.


There is a very healthy development of mixed commercial/residential buildings 
in DC, MD & VA.    In the 1970’s, DC did not have mixed use in the downtown 
area of the city. Only commercial buildings specifically Federal buildings. At 
5pm. downtown was a ghost down. You couldn’t get a glass of water or a sandwich 
after 5pm.  W/ the advent of Home Rule (when DC got the right from Congress to 
handle its own city affairs rather than Congress in charge) the Planning 
Commission got religion, changed the zoning codes and the renaissance began.

Speaking of cohousing and mixed use, two of our units at the street end of 
Takoma Village are zoned commercial.  Our bylaws restrict the use but they are 
zoned for that.

Mixed use is one development strategy to reduce the cost of building housing.  
The commercial part takes a larger burden of the project BUT while the upper 
floors may sell as condos the commercial part is a gift that keeps on giving to 
the entity that owns it.  Carnia Young in New Zealand is working on strategies 
to have the residents of mixed use developments to share in the income from the 
project.

Sharon - maybe you can expand on your reply.  


Best —

Ann Zabaldo
Takoma Village Cohousing
Washington, DC
Member, Board of Directors
Mid Atlantic Cohousing
Principal, Cohousing Collaborative, LLC
Falls Church, VA
202.546.4654

If we would learn what the human race really is at the bottom, we need only 
observe it in election times.

Mark Twain

What will we observe before, during and after Nov. 3, 2020?  AZ




> On Jul 21, 2020, at 8:57 AM, Sharon Villines via Cohousing-L <cohousing-l 
> [at] cohousing.org> wrote:
> 
>> On Jul 20, 2020, at 7:43 PM, Brian Bartholomew via Cohousing-L <cohousing-l 
>> [at] cohousing.org> wrote:
>> 
>> The resilient performance of this design is not accidental, instead it
>> is carefully thought out and arranged by the people who are living in
>> these units. This resilient performance appears everywhere it isn't
>> explicitly banned by modern urban planning.
> 
> If by resilient performance you mean the mixing of residential and commercial 
> uses in one building, it is banned in cities here. Buildings are either 
> residential or commercial. There are some areas where people operate 
> businesses in their homes but inspection codes, etc., still enforce 
> distinctions.
> 
> Sharon
> ——— 
> Sharon Villines
> http://sustainablecohousing.org
> sustainablecohousing [at] groups.io
> To subscribe:
> sustainablecohousing+subscribe [at] groups.io
> 
> 
> 
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